Junior telco seeks clear NBN signal

Macquarie Telecom has reported a big jump in first-half profit, but the junior telco plans to seek clarity from the federal government on a proposal that could allow the national broadband network to compete in some of its markets.

Legislation just released will give Communications Minister Stephen Conroy power to exempt NBN Co from its “wholesale only” remit to “offer services directly to certain end users, for example, government agencies”.

Macquarie, one of the largest players in the government telco market after Telstra, said it was not unduly concerned by the proposal in the exposure draft but that it would be asking questions.

“The vast majority of the draft appears to reinforce the primacy of ‘wholesale only’ as the government’s model for the NBN Co,” said Matt Healy, Macquarie Telecom’s national executive for reg­ulatory and government.

“At the fringes of that concept is the possibility of some retailing activity by the NBN Co, any detail of which has to be the subject of discussions over the next three weeks. We will seek clarity on it.”

The government’s proposal has been viewed by others in the industry as a way to increase pressure on Telstra to transfer its domestic traffic to the NBN.

Macquarie Telecom forecast an improvement in full-year earnings after reporting a net profit of $12.3 million for the six months to December 31, up from $3.1 million in the same period a year ago.

The result was boosted by the sale of the Singapore unit for $9.4 million. First-half net profit from continuing operations was $4.8 million, up 68 per cent.

Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation for the first half were up 19 per cent on the previous corresponding ­period to $13.7 million.

Chief executive David Tudehope forecast full-year EBITDA of $26 million to $28 million, up from $25 million.Despite some of the fluctuations of a recovering economy “Macquarie Telecom enters the second half of 2010 in healthy shape and is well positioned to deliver strong 2010 full year results,” he said.

Macquarie Telecom’s hosting business posted EBITDA of $6.2 million in the period to December, up 37.4 per cent on the previous corresponding period.

The group’s telco business, which delivers data, voice and mobile, delivered EBITDA of $10.6 million, up 3.3 per cent on the previous corresponding period.